Some of pāṇini's rules applied

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Pāṇini-ji was the prathamavaiyākaraṇa (distinguished/1^st rate) vyākaraṇaḥ¹ or grammarian. Historians put him around 700 B.C. His most notable work is called aṣṭādhyāyī grantha¹ containing 4,000 sūtra-s. Within the 4,000 are 3,959 rules¹ (sūtrāṇi) of grammar. Some count the work as containing 32,000 syllables ( that’s just how grammarians think no doubt), yet this 3+2+0+0+0 = 5 and is a ‘code’ for śivaḥ. How so? Akṣarasamāmnāya or akṣara + samāmnāya : samāmnāya = enumeration or mentioned together + akṣara = syllable, indestructible.
The recitation of akṣara or phonemes are the 14 phonemes ( sound forms/syllables) that are offered in pāṇini-ji’s work; note 14 is 1+4 = 5. This akṣara + samāmnāya is most-often called śiva-sūtrāṇi or the the rules in sūtra form offered by śivaḥ, hence the '5' connection as His 5 acts ( creation, dissolution, grace, etc)

I thought to offer some of these rules that I find interesting and useful … I myself am no more than the student (śiṣyaḥ). I also would like to offer them inspirationally i.e. as I find one a rule of interest at the moment. My intent ? Sharing vs. trying to teach anyone a specific mode of grammar and its rules.

Let me start with saṁskṛtam
Why do we sometimes see it written saṅskrit or sanscrit ? These two alternate ways of writing the term saṁskṛtam may be for easier reading. Yet the nasal ‘n’ shown as ‘ṅ’ has some merit in scripting, but let’s start at the beginning.

saṁskṛtam is made of the compound sam + kṛta

• sam = union, thoroughness, completeness , placed together
• kṛta = done , made , accomplished , performed

So , sam + kṛta = thoroughly done, highly complete, well formed & placed together.
Saṁskṛtam as a definition of a language is come to be known as a well formed, complete, and highly polished language. The notion of ‘well formed’ = according to accurate rules and regular derivation.

Now the rules of combining sam + kṛta .

We are informed that anytime this ‘m’ comes at the end of a word it is transformed into ‘ṁ’ if the next sound is a consonant ( like a ka, ca, ga, ja, da, pa, na, etc).
This ‘ṁ’ is called anusvāra which is defined as ‘the after-sound , the nasal sound’ which is marked by a dot.

Here is an example: śivam namaḥ becomes śivaṁ namaḥ. We followed the rule precisely. Yet there are exceptions ( as there always are).The rule is different for the term sam and and pum. It says when this is encountered the ‘m’ becomes ‘ṁs’ when followed by any root form of ‘kṛ’. The ‘kṛ’ root indicates to do , make , perform , accomplish , cause , effect , prepare , undertake.
Note that we have this condition: sam + kṛta. This term when combined becomes saṁskṛta.

This rule of ‘m’ also has another flavor. It says if you are combining words and this ‘m’ is found at the joining/union point of the 2 words and the 2^nd word begins with a consonant ( as mentioned before) you then change it to the corresponding nasal sound associated with that consonant.
Example: tattvam + karoṣi becomes tattvaṅkaroṣi , yet could be written as tattvaṁ karoṣi.
Another: kṛtam + ca becomes kṛtañca, yet could also have been written kṛtaṁ ca.

There are two questions ( at least).
a. Why combine words? Simple answer, for the efficient use of space; the esoteric answer is one of communicating wholeness.
b. Which nasal sounds are substituted for which consonants? And why these sounds ?
Why - is based upon easy pronunciation and the existing position if the tongue at for the existing phonemes/ akṣara that are in use at that moment)

Now the which ...
I will let you look this up but let me give you a few indicators

• when ka sounds ( called kaṇṭhya or guttural, throat) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal ṅ is used.
• when ca sounds ( called tālvya or palatal) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal ñ is used.
• when ṭa sounds ( called mūrdhanya or cerebral, roof) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal ṇ is used.
• when ta sounds (called danta or dental , teeth) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal n is used.
• when pa sounds (called oṣṭhya or labial, lips) are encountered as the consonant then the nasal m is used

nasal ṅ is used – as in sing
nasal ñ is used – as in enjoyable
nasal ṇ is used – as in Monday or gentle
nasal n is used as in nut
m is used – as in mother
But what of ūṣman sounds ( called sibilants) i.e. ṣ, ś, s and ha ? different rules apply.

Back to square one
Why do we sometimes see it written saṅskrit or sanscrit ? These writings have it almost right… but they are still incorrect.

Next post
How does śivaḥ + aham ( I am śivaḥ) become śivo’ham ?

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

words

• some call out 3,995 rules
• pāṇini comes from pāṇin-a meaning son of pāṇina. One must ask then what is pāṇin ? The core of the name ? It means ‘the hand’ suggesting writing and IMHO the perfect connection for one dealing with grammar or vyākaraṇa grammatical correctness , polished or accurate language. He the author of several other works i.e. the dhātupāṭha , gaṇapātha , liṅgānuśāsana and other śikṣā-s works as we are told.
• grantha – binding, stringing together and suggests pages or leafs bound together to compose a book. It too means treatise , literary production , book in prose or verse , text. Yet grantha also means wealth. This suggests the ‘wealth’ of knowledge that is bound within this book aṣṭādhyāyī. Since the book contains ‘rules’ the offer of aṣṭādhyāyī is rule-bound.
• For those wondering this aṣṭādhyāyī contains 8 chapters, that he divided into 4 pādāḥ . Note that 3+ 9+5+9 = 26.
  
  • 2+6 = 8.
  • The name aṣṭādhyāyī can be looked at this way:

• aṣṭādhyāyī = a collection of 8 books or chapters as adhyāya = a chapter, lesson or lecture
• aṣṭa ( or aṣṭan or aṣṭā́ ) = 8 ; note too that aṣṭa also means marked/branded
• ādhyāyī - ādhyai = to meditate on, consider. So we can consider aṣṭādhyāyī as a collection of 8 chapters one may wish to meditate on

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

How does śivaḥ + aham (I am śivaḥ) become śivo’ham ?

Let me offer a few steps…

Step 1
Within the rules of visarga (ḥ) sandhi we are told when ḥ is preceded by an ‘a’ and the next term is also an ‘a’ or another
soft consonant ( ga, ja, ba, da, ḍa, etc.) then visarga (ḥ) is changed to a ‘u’. If we look at śivaḥ + aham we have this condition; śivau – the ‘u’ has been substituted for the ḥ, yet here is the additional rule. By another rule a+u = o. We say ‘the guṇa is formed’ when ‘a’ comes in contact, or is added to ‘u’ – and that guṇa (additional quality , virtue , merit) of a+u=o. These are within the svara sandhi¹ rules ; said differently these are within the rules found in using vowels co-mingling together: śivau now becomes śivo . This is step one of two.

A bit more on this rule
Let me offer you a most basic rule (niyama). If I have an ‘a’ and add a ‘u’ ( a+u) I get an ‘o’. Example: kaṭha upaniṣad . Most all know of this upaniṣad. Yet if I wish to join them ( saṁhita – put together) kaṭha+upaniṣad; the final sentence is now kaṭhopaniṣat. We can see the ‘o’ is the guṇa of a+u coming together or joining.
Hey, but wait a minute what happened to the ‘d’ at the end of upaniṣad ? That is a different rule which has less compliance (even by me, but I promise I will get better) and will address at another time.

So, with this guṇa rule for vowels (svara) it informs us how vowels can come together to form a stronger sound, called guṇa, such as:

• a+i=e
• a+u=o
• a+ ṛ= ar
• a+ ḷ= al

Note that in each case above it is the addition of an ‘a’ that forms the guṇa that is created. This ‘a’ is a big deal and we can talk of this most noble fundamental sound at another time.

But where is a+a in the list above ? The guṇa of a+a = ‘a’. This again is an exception rule. But if I were talking vṛddhi (growth, increase) rules for vowels an ‘a’ + ‘a’ = ā. And, for each guṇa ( e, o, ar, al ) it has an increase (vṛddhi) also, and a combined sound form is made by the addition of ‘a’ or ‘ā’ to each one of them. One then can come to appreciate why saṁskṛtam is defined as a language that is ‘well formed’ i.e. guided by rules.

Step 2
Back now to śivaḥ + aham in which we have śivo + aham. The rule continues and says if the next term/ akṣara is an ‘a’
It is replaced/substituted with an apostrophe ( ‘ ) . Let me show you what it looks like in devanāgarī compositional script ( ऽ ) :
शिवोऽहम् śivo'ham - I am śiva , from where we started this post.

Are there other rules on various sandhi applications ? Yes, no doubt, but we have accomplished what we started by defining how
śivaḥ + aham becomes śivo’ham.


इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

words

• niyama – any fixed rule.
• note for sandhi – it starts as samdhi but ‘ṁ ‘ does not replace it in this case .Why so ? based upon the rules ( see post 1) it starts out as samdhi. Since the akṣara ‘da’ is next or follows ‘m’ we take that nasalization for that group ‘da’ is found in called danta or dental , teeth, and the nasal ‘n’ replaces ‘m’. The groups and their replacements was reviewed in post 1 above.
• sandhi = junction , connection , combination , union with; if you look it up in a dictionary you will need to enter saMdhi ( or saṁdhi) to find it. There are 5 types.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

With this guṇa rule for vowels (svara) it informs us how vowels can come together to form a stronger sound, called guṇa, such as:

• a+i=e
• a+u=o
• a+ ṛ= ar
• a+ ḷ= al

Note that in each case above it is the addition of an ‘a’ that forms the guṇa that is created. This ‘a’ is a big deal and we can talk of thiss
most noble and fundamental sound at another time.

But where is a+a in the list above ? The guṇa of a+a = ‘a’. This again is an exception rule. But if I were talking vṛddhi (growth, increase)
rules for vowels an ‘a’ + ‘a’ = ā. And, for each guṇa ( e, o, ar, al ) it has an increase (vṛddhi) also, and a combined sound form is made by the
addition of ‘a’ or ‘ā’ to each one of them.

How often do we encounter the term maha-rishi in our readings i.e. vasiṣṭha , bhṛgu, nārada, vālmīki , vyāsa?
Properly spelled it looks like this: mahā - ṛṣi. When we add the terms mahā+ṛṣi it becomes maharṣi. That is because ā+ṛ = ar. Said another way,
ā+ṛ forms the guṇa ‘ar’. That is because:

• ā+ṛ = ar
• a+ṛ = ar
• ā+ṝ = ar
• a+ṝ = ar

So, when we pronounce this term maharṣi (महर्षि) it is properly said ma-harshee. Yet many say ( incorrectly) ma-ha-ree-shee.

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Here are a few śloka-s from the gurugītā and viṣṇu sahasrānam that people see and repeat yet wonder, ‘where does that ‘r’ come from’ ?

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः ।
गुरुरेव परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥१
gururbrahmā gururviṣṇurgururdevo maheśvaraḥ |
gurureva paraṃbrahma tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ ||

most know this says,
guruḥ is brahmā guruḥ is viṣṇuḥ guruḥ devaḥ is maheśvaraḥ |
guruḥ is paraṃbrahma tasmai¹ śrīgurave I bow ||

We note that ‘guru’ is a noun. It is classified as masculine, singular-nominative that ends in ‘u’. The nominative case is simply the subject within the sentence. For this example it is the (one) guruḥ when written in this method and considered masculine gender format. (See the foot notes for more than one entity or person)

Now for this classification of noun ( there can be 8 of them) we are told the proper ending is ‘gurus’. And, by the grammatical rules offered by pāṇini-ji, a word ( or sentence) ending in ‘s’ or ‘r’ is changed to visarga or ‘ḥ’ . In saṁskṛt’s devanāgarī script it looks like a colon : ( look to the the end of saṁskṛt verses shown above and you will see this visarga written as ‘:’ So, ‘gurus’ becomes guruḥ. Many write it without the ḥ as ‘guru’ for convenience. This simplified form ( guru) is called the stem or prātipadika form i.e. the base of a noun before the case is added to form the noun in use (subanta¹). This prātipadika or stem form is usually what you will find in a saṁskṛt dictionary.

Yet this convenience of using the prātipadika form does not serve the writer when the terms/words have to be assembled into a contiguous sentence or verse.
Then another rule is applied when the term is put into a sentence or added to other words that are used in a sentence. That is, guruḥ + brahma becomes gururbrahmā just as guruḥ+viṣṇuḥ+guruḥ+devaḥ becomes gururviṣṇurgururdevo … Do not be concerned with the ‘o’ at the end of devo, as that too is another rule .

What’s the rule being applied here for 'r' ? It says when you have this visarga ḥ that is preceded by a vowel ( except the ‘a’ or ‘ā’ vowel) and is then followed by a vowel (a or ā is okay in this position) or by a soft consonant (ga, ba, da, ja, ḍa, etc.) then on your re-insertion of this term into a sentence ‘r’ is then substituted for ḥ . Hence ‘gurus’ becomes ‘guruḥ’ and finally ‘gurur’.

Yet for those with a keen eye you may say I missed a term śrīgurave … That is a different case ending ‘rave’ which falls under using ‘gurus’ as gurave , the masculine, singular-dative usage. Think of dative as simply for whom a thing is done or being addressed to… ‘ for the sake of’ is the best definition I heard that was easy to remember.


गुरुर्बुद्ध्यात्मनो नान्यत् सत्यं सत्यं न संशयः।
तल्लाभार्थं प्रयत्नस्तु कर्तव्यो हि मनीषिभिः॥९॥

gururbuddhyātmano nānyat satyaṁ satyaṁ na saṁśayaḥ|
tallābhārthaṁ prayatnastu kartavyo hi manīṣibhiḥ ||9

From the viṣṇu sahasrānam …
कामदेवः कामपालः कामी कान्तः कृतागमः ।
अनिर्देश्यवपुर्विष्णुर्वीर्ōनन्त्ō धनञ्जयः ॥ ७०
kāmadevaḥ kāmapālaḥ kāmī kāntaḥ kṛtāgamaḥ |
anirdeśyavapurviṣṇurvīrōnantō dhanañjayaḥ || 70

This line ( 70) calls out the various names of viṣṇuḥ :

• kāmadevaḥ: One who is desired by persons in quest of the four values of life – Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
• kāmapālaḥ: One who protects or assures the desired ends of people endowed with desires.
• kāmī: One who by nature has all his desires satisfied.
• kāntaḥ: One whose form is endowed with great beauty. Or one who effects the 'Anta' or dissolution of 'Ka' or Brahma at the end of a Dviparardha (the period of brahma's lifetime extending over a hundred divine years).
• kṛtāgamaḥ: He who produced scriptures like Shruti, Smruti and Agama.
• anirdeśya-vapuḥ: He is called so, because, being above the guna-s, His form cannot be determined.
• viṣṇuḥ: One whose brilliance has spread over the sky and over the earth; 'all pervading'
• vīraḥ: One who has the power of gati or movement.
• anantaḥ: One who pervades everything, who is eternal, who is the soul of all, and who cannot be limited by space, time, location, etc.
• dhananjayaḥ: Arjuna is called so because by his conquest of the kingdoms in the four quarters he acquired great wealth.

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

words

• tasmi is rooted in ‘tad’ meaning thus , in this manner , with regard to; ‘tasmi’ is the dative case and as you recall dative in its simplest notion means ‘for the benefit of’ for the sake of, regarding, some say ' to that' which is the subject of the sentence.
• subanta - a technical expression for an inflected noun as ending with a case-termination. That is a noun in use properly declined (some say adorned).
  
  • ​Example: this form of ‘śiva’ is written in the is the stem or prātipadika. Yet for the singular nominative case it is written as śivaḥ. If I was using a dual case ( 2 of them) it would be written as śivau (the two śiva-s) and as a plural śivāḥ ( the śiva-s , implying many, more than 2). So, there is singular, dual, plural uses in 8 cases = 3x8=24 ways of writing the prātipadika stem ‘śiva’.
  • Add to this the various genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. If a noun ends in an ‘a’ the noun (or adjective, yikes!) is masculine or neuter. If it ends in an ‘ā’ it could be masculine or feminine. Yet too the noun can end in a consonant and different rules to case endings apply as to how the noun is finally written changes. This is why I am just a student. It will be some time before I am confident and comfortable with all the variations.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

I bumped into a few rules I put to practice today…

Within saṃskṛtām, there are 10 gaṇa-s or classes of verbs or svara. The 1^st class or group is called bhvādi gaṇa. That made me pause a moment to think how this word was formed. It comes from bhū + ādi. The term bhū (भू) = be, become + ādi = 1^st , 'beginning with'. So, this group or class is the 1^st one, beginning with the term bhū.

From a grammar assembly-rules process ( or sandhi) we are told the following: Two vowels cannot be placed together:

• When ‘i, ī’ (long or short), ‘u, ū ’ (long or short), ṛ or ṝ, or ḷ , is followed by a dis-similar vowel then y, v, r, and l , in that order, is substituted for that 1^st vowel.

Hence I had this condition: bhū + ādi and ‘v’ is substituted for ū, and what remains is bhvādi.

Another example would be the following: yogi + uttama ( or the chief/highest amoungst yogi’s) = yogyuttama

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

The first words within the vijñāna bhairava kārikā-s are:
श्री देव्युवाच।
śrī devyuvāca |

This term devyuvāca is made up of devī + uvāca. The saṁdhi¹ (containing a conjunction or transition from one to the other ) rule that is used says when i or ī is followed by a dissimilar vowel ( in this case ‘u’) then ‘y’ is substituted for the ī. In fact this rule that no two vowels can be placed together ( one after another) is one of the primary rules used in sentence construction. It is
called the yaṇa sandhi rules. The term yaṇ means the semi-vowels y,v,r & l. It is when these are substituted for i,u, ṛ and ḷ.

For English speaking people a,e,i,o, u and sometimes y are the common vowels. Yet in saṃskṛtam along with its writing thereof in devanāgarī script, it includes a,e,i,o, u; ‘y’ is ‘ya’ and considered a semi-vowel ( this term yaṇ). Yet in saṃskṛtam ṛ, ṝ, ḷ, as root (mūla) vowels are used and ai & au are derived vowels ( called vṛddhi or graduated,increased, swelled). Within this vṛddhi vowel set you too will find ār and āl.

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

1. saṁdhi- this term is also written as sandhi – yet you will find it in the dictionary as saṁdhi. The term is also called ‘saṁhitā’ or placed side-by-side. We see this term used often for the ṛg veda saṁhitā. All the verses placed side-by-side that are connected and agreeable ( another definition of saṁhitā).

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

An example: śrī+mat bhaga+vat +gītā

Note the suffixes (pratyaya¹) mat and vat above. We run into these suffixes all the time. They are attached to the end of ‘raw’ nouns (prakṛti¹), creating derivative nouns and adjectives called taddhiānta¹.

The endings above ( mat and vat) are primarily used to indicate possession; a few examples will show this:

• buddhimat – possessed of intelligence ; dhanavat – possessed of wealth ; smṛtimat – possessed of memory.

Yet when words are added together the rules of phonics and sandhi (some write saṁdhi¹) take place within saṃskṛta and it’s written form, devanāgarī . Applying ‘mat’ or ‘vat’ is based upon how the prakṛti stem ( called prātipadika ) ends. Usually if the stem ends in an a or ā then ‘vat’ is applied; for other endings ‘mat’ is used. We can see this in the examples just shown above and in this term I am using: śrī+mat bhaga+vat +gītā

So, what occurs with this term we usually read in books ? It’s transformed tośrīmad bhagavadgītā. Why did this happen ? There is a grammar rule that says when a hard consonant is placed before a soft letter this hard consonant sound is changed to a soft consonant within its family. As you know there are always exceptions and special cases, of which I will just leave alone for this example.
Note the hard consonant (t) and soft sound (bha & g ) here: śrī+mat bhaga+vat +gita
Pāṇini-ji’s rules inform us when we add these sounds together the ‘t’ is transformed into a ‘d’ the very 1^st soft consonant we encounter in the list of danta ( dental) sounds. They are ta ( where we started) followed by tha, da, dha, and na.

As you know all the sounds of saṃskṛta are grouped in sets or divisions (varga); consonants (vyañjana) have 5 groups. And like all good groups there are sub-groups. The consonants’ subgroups are hard , hard aspirated, soft, soft aspirated, and soft nasal. These subgroups inform the speaker how the sound comes out of one’s mouth or how it should resonate, or where the sound originates within the throat, mouth, etc. and where the tongue needs to be placed.

So in the danta (dental) varga just mentioned we would read this group from left to right , as they neatly fall into their sub-group of hard, soft, etc. Hence, ta, tha, da, dha, and na as the last soft nasal sound. A very well managed and orderly approach. So it is by the rules offered by Pāṇini-ji that the assembly of śrī+mat bhaga+vat +gita becomes śrīmad bhagavadgītā. What does this term say ?

• gītā (some write gīta) the song
• bhaga - the ‘dispenser’ the gracious Lord, good fortune , happiness , welfare , prosperity
• vad = vat = possessor
• śrī = splendid , radiant
• mad = mat = possessing
  
  • The song of He who is radiant, who dispenses and possess good fortune, the gracious Lord

Now the question... but why change these letters/sounds ? Simply for melodious speech. Saṃskṛta is considered ‘highly polished, well formed’ by definition. It allows and encourages saṁhitā (jointed, togetherness, placed side-by-side) pāṭha – allowing the collected recitation of the veda-s to occur. Then what ? Goodness comes to mankind.

There is no knowledge in this world which is graspable without words¹... vākyapadīya 1.119




इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

terms used

• pratyaya -an affix or suffix to roots (forming verbs , substantives , adjectives and all derivatives) ; yet too this term is defined as belief , firm conviction , trust , faith , assurance or certainty of
• prakṛti – we know as ~nature~ yet in grammar it is the elementary form of a word , base , root , an uninflected word; it aligns nicely as it too is defined as the original or natural form or condition of anything , original or primary substance which = ~ base~ of a word, its original substance i.e. its cause or source or nature
• taddhiānta or tiddhita - an affix forming nouns from other nouns or a derivative noun
• saṁdhi - euphonic junction of final and initial letters in grammar
• Pāṇini-ji was the prathamavaiyākaraṇa (distinguished/1st rate) vyākaraṇaḥ or grammarian. Historians put him around 700 B.C. His most notable work is called aṣṭādhyāyī grantha¹ containing 4,000 sutra-s. Within the 4,000 are 3,959 to 3,995 rules (sūtrāṇi) of grammar.
• vākyapadīya – authored by bhartṛhari - which is his treaty on words and sentences. It is divided into 3 sections or kāṇḍa: brahma-kāṇḍa, the vākya-kāṇḍa, and the pada-kāṇḍa (or prakīrṇaka 'miscellaneous'). He writes much about sphoṭa theory (sphoṭavāda) or ‘bursting forth’ and the notion of the initial idea + medium + the final sound and words :
  
  • varṇa-sphoṭa, at the syllable level of sound
  • pada-sphoṭa, at the word level
  • vakya-sphoṭa, at the sentence level
  • More on this can be found here: http://www.iep.utm.edu/bhartrihari/

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

So in the danta (dental) varga just mentioned we would read this group from left to right , as they neatly fall into their sub-group of hard, soft, etc. Hence, ta, tha, da, dha, and na as the last soft nasal sound. A very well managed and orderly approach. So it is by the rules offered by Pāṇini-ji that the assembly of śrī+mat bhaga+vat +gita becomes śrīmad bhagavadgītā.

Note that I used the term danta in the paragraph above. Yet if properly written it would be dantya or pertaining to, regarding teeth. It is one of the 5 locations within our ‘sound system’ i.e. the mouth , throat, and nose - where sound is generated or formed.
The five locations (ṣthāna) are:

• kaṇṭhya – regarding the throat ; the 1st sound in this group is ‘ka’ or kakāra = 'ka' maker or doer; like the sound in skate
• tālavya – regarding the palate ( some call soft palate); the 1st sound is 'ca' or cakāra; like the sound in cello the musical instrument, or chair)
• mūrdhanya – regarding the roof of the mouth (some call hard palate or cerebral); the 1st sound is 'ṭa' or ṭakāra; like the sound in ‘stop’ or ‘start’)
• dantya – regarding the teeth ; the 1st sound is 'ta' or takāra , like the sound in water
• oṣṭhya – regarding the lips; the 1^st sound in this group is ‘pa’ or pakāra; like the sound in put ( some say like ‘spin’)

The sounds I listed where consonants , yet vowels or svara also find their origin points within these 5 ṣthānaya. Yet too it is possible to have combinations e.g. kaṇṭha-tālu.
And, some sounds require more air, less air and some are aspirated as in visarga ḥ (as in namaḥ)

At the end of the day it seems the grammarians look to our mouth, lips, teeth, etc. as an instrument that can be played.







इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

from the aṣṭāvakra gītā 4.3

तज्ज्ञस्य पुण्यपापाभ्यां स्पर्शो ह्यन्तर्न जायते
न ह्याकाशस्य धूमेन दृश्यमानापि सङ्गतिः ॥ ४-३
tajjñasya puṇyapāpābhyāṁ sparśo hyantarna jāyate |
na hyākāśasya dhūmena dṛśyamānāpi saṅgatiḥ || 4.3

This says in general,
he that knows That is untouched by good or bad deeds
just like the sky that is untouched by smoke , however much it appears to be so.

The term tajjñasya is interesting in its composition. It comes into its existing form by applying the rules of saṁdhi¹ (containing a conjunction or transition from one to the other ). Tajjñasya comes from tat+jñasya which comes from tad+jñasya ( this can be broken down more but this is a good place to show the rule being applied)

tad+jñasya

• tad = That; yet at the same time ‘tad’ = he or she. ‘That’ = brahma = pure consciousness, some call SELF or Being. Note it is not brahmā of the trimūrti e.g. brahmā , viṣṇu , śiva
• jña = knowing
• ya – as a suffix informs us ‘belonging to’
  
  • 'sya' is the genitive case ending ( 1st person, singular use)'belonging to' ; similar to the English use of 'apostrophe s' ('s) to show possession e.g. Bob's pen; Mary's bike.

First when I add tad+jñasya the rules of saṁdhi informs us that a term that ends in a soft consonant such as ‘tad’ when added into a sentence ( as we are doing) is transformed into the corresponding ‘hard’ letter and that turns out to be ‘t’ within the vyañjana (consonant) family of sound-forms; specifically within the dental (danta) sub-group of consonants (see post 8 above for the mouth position). Really, it is the ‘da’ sound at the end of ‘tad’ that is transformed/converted to ‘ta’. Now we have tat+jñasya. Yet we are not done.

There is another rule ( again of saṁdhi) that says when a ‘t’ comes in contact with a ‘j’ sound, it is transformed to a ‘j’ also. Now we end with taj+jñasya and our final term tajjñasya. This same rule of ‘t’ co-joining a ‘c’, ‘ch’, ‘j’ ( as we have just applied) or a ‘jh’ will change this ‘t’ into something else.

See post 7 & post 2 above for another example of how ‘t’ is transformed.

Why did the grammarians do this? For the smooth flow of voice. It allows and encourages saṁhitā (jointed, togetherness, placed side-by-side) pāṭha – allowing the collected recitation of the veda-s to occur. Then what ? Goodness comes to mankind.


इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

1. saṁdhi- this term is also written as sandhi – yet you will find it in the dictionary as saṁdhi. The term is also called ‘saṁhitā’ or placed side-by-side. We see this term used often for the ṛg veda saṁhitā. All the verses placed side-by-side that are connected and agreeable ( another definition of saṁhitā).

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté & hello,

from the aṣṭāvakra gītā 4.6

आत्मानमद्वयं कश्चिज्जानाति जगदीश्वरम् ।
यद् वेत्ति तत्स कुरुते न भयं तस्य कुत्रचित् ॥४-६॥
ātmānamadvayaṁ kaścijjānāti jagadīśvaram |
yad vetti tatsa kurute na bhayaṁ tasya kutracit ||4.6

This says in general,
rare is the man who knows himself as the undivided Lord of the world,
and he who knows this is not afraid of anything.

There are a few interesting (saṁdhi¹) rules that are applied here... if one compares and contrasts them to the posts aforementioned above, there could be some confusion. This confusion becomes a learning point for one that says, “I thought the rule was _____, and not ______" ; so, the learning by example and comparison.

Let’s take a few I have highlighted above:
Note that yad vetti are two separate terms. If you recall from posts 7 & 9 it informs us that if I insert a term into a continuous sentence a term cannot end in a ‘d’ or ‘da’ sound (example chāndogya upaniṣad combined becomes chāndogyopaniṣat , see post 2 above), yet we see it here in this verse.

If I viewed this term as yad+vetti यद्वेत्ति (a connected term) then I could have concludes that it came from yat+vetti. I would reverse a rule to get to the original term being used as the example ‘yat’. Let me inform you now before I go further this would be incorrect, and would lead me in the wrong direction on the term’s definition that is being used. Let me explain.

First the rule. It says any final hard consonant placed before a soft letter is changed to the respective soft letter in its family of sounds¹ . That is, ‘ta’ is hard and placed before ‘va’ in yat+vetti; 'va' which is a semi-vowel and is considered soft; then ‘ta’ becomes ‘da’ , the 1^st soft sound in the dental family.
The final result would be yadvetti (यद्वेत्ति) and incorrect! Why so? For this reason:

• yat = going, moving; to keep pace, to exert one’s self; to strive or attain.
• yad = who; which
• vetti – in my opinion is vid+ti or ‘he knows’ ;therefore becomes vit+ti or vitti. I look to stand corrected by others more knowledgeable.

If the term is combined the definition becomes more of the sense of he that goes (yat) or moves or strives verses yad vetti, which means he who (yad) knows. See the point? If one accidentally combined the terms it would change the verse to striving to know vs. one who knows already.

We will look at kaścijjānāti jagadīśvaram in the next post...

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

terms

• saṁdhi- this term is also written as sandhi – yet you will find it in the dictionary as saṁdhi. The term is also called ‘saṁhitā’ or placed side-by-side. We see this term used often for the ṛg veda saṁhitā. All the verses placed side-by-side that are connected and agreeable ( another definition of saṁhitā).
• Pāṇini-ji’s rules inform us when we add these sounds together the ‘t’ is transformed into a ‘d’ the very 1^st soft consonant we encounter in the list of danta ( dental) sounds. They are ta ( where we started) followed by tha, da, dha, and na.